Where's this post-Brexit crisis, then?

Prior to their referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union (EU) on June 23rd of this year, the British people faced lectures from a myriad of public figures and organisations. The then-Prime Minister, David Cameron, warned that voting to leave the EU would be akin to 'putting a bomb under the economy', the IMF warned that Britain would be plunged into recession and Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, warned the British people that they would be treated as 'deserters' by the remaining EU members. 

It has now been exactly 57 days since the British electorate took the momentous decision to leave the economic and political union of which their country had been a member of since 1972 and that is plenty of time for investors and consumers to consider the short term implications of 'Brexit' and act accordingly; so let's take a look at the British economy as it stands today.

In one of the most divisive moves by the British government to try and secure a vote to Remain, David Cameron decided that wheeling out President Barack Obama to the cameras would be one of the most potent moves, although it ended up antagonising Remainers and Brexiteers alike, and in his speech to the British press, Obama warned that should the UK leave the EU, the country would find itself at the 'back of the queue' for trade deals in the event of Brexit. Yet the US leader has found himself in the minority in this statement with high ranking government officials and political figures from over two dozen countries, including the likes of Mexico, New Zealand, Australia and strongly europhilic Germany, hinting strongly at their desire for comprehensive trade deals with the UK. 

As for Britain's financial markets, despite the pound sterling remaining below pre-Brexit levels, the FTSE 250 is currently 3.12% higher than it was prior to the drop it suffered following the referendum whilst the FTSE 100 is currently at a 14-month high. 

And in reassuring economic data, retail sales in July, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), were up 1.4% on June after a slump in the month of the referendum despite economists predicting a rise of merely 0.2%. The number of people claiming unemployment benefit was also down by 8,600 despite an expected rise of 9,500. And due to the depreciation seen by the pound, spending on luxury items by tourists visiting Britain has increased significantly whilst a poll by The Times newspaper indicated that less than a third of Britons thought Brexit would leave them and their families worse off financially. 

The rumors circulated by much of the press regarding the impact of Brexit on the economy were quite blatantly hyperbolic and as it stands it is far too early to gauge the long term impact of Brexit accurately. After all, the UK looks like it won't actually leave for at least another two years since the British government is yet to invoke Article 50. But what we can take from the latest economic data is that British consumers are taking Brexit with a pinch of salt and that, at least for the time being, it is business as usual for your everyday consumer.